


The Rise of Solo

by brishachu



Category: Rey - Fandom, Reylo - Fandom, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, ben solo - Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:26:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29077077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brishachu/pseuds/brishachu
Summary: For those of us who thought our ship deserved better
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. Exegol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From surging hope to bottomless despair, Rey's journey is just beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi there and welcome to my first fan fiction. this post got more love than i anticipated (translation: a single soul stopped to read this) so i guess i'll keep going!

A surge of warmth radiated from her core, spreading, spreading through her extremities. It willed her eyes open. And then she saw it. Each piece familiar, but unfamiliar. The shaggy black hair, not perfectly unmade, but actually mussed. His skin, covered in dusty residue. But his eyes, one look in his deep dark eyes brought this wonderful image into focus. He wasn’t just here. He was hers.

No one had ever been hers before. No one had ever looked at her like this before. His name slipped from her lips as his eyes bored into her soul. Is this what it was supposed to feel like? Was her heart supposed to skip a beat? Did it matter? She grasped his face with both hands and willed herself to him. She was certain that time had simply stopped. His lips were warm and damp. His smell intoxicated her, his hair grazed her forehead, his arms held her close to him.

Before they had met, she spent her whole life waiting for her home to find her. Seeing glimpses of it in her memories, in Han Solo, in Leia, maybe even a little in Luke. But she never imagined it would feel like this. She felt complete. She felt whole. Like as long as she was here, with Ben in her arms she could truly rest. He was the homecoming she had been searching for all this time.

She parted from him to find him smiling at her. She had never seen a smile so genuine, so beautiful. But something wasn’t quite right. As quickly as it had come, all of that warmth drained from her body. She only just had time to watch as the light behind his eyes plunged into darkness. Leaving her to hold his limp body in her arms.

No. It’s not possible, no. “Ben?”, she whispered. Then again, louder, “Ben!” No, no no no no no no. Her mind was spinning. She frantically looked around but there was nothing. Just this decrepit old tomb on this wasteland of a planet. She couldn’t leave him in a place like this. Not when he had just given up what little he had left to come for her. No army. No title. No saber. Everything he had left in this galaxy just so she would know she was enough. She couldn’t leave him here.

Rey sprung into action. She unwrapped her top layer as fast as she could wrapping it around him leaving enough space for to just barely squeeze in on top of him. Checking to make sure it was tight enough, she forced them both off the cold stone floor. She could barely support them both. She hunched over, only marginally balancing their combined weight. His arms dangled in front of her and his head slumped forward, while his feet dragged behind her. It took every ounce of energy he had sacrificed to her to carry him out of this awful place. She would get him home.


	2. Nobody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey lands on Ajan Kloss

Rey exhaled for what may have been the first time in an hour as she exited hyperspace. If getting to Exegol was hard, coming back with an extra set of knees and 200 pounds in her seat was tantamount to suicide, particularly in Luke’s ancient X-Wing. She lowered the ship into the sea of green the Resistance had called home lately. It looked like the entire galaxy was here. Where did all these people come from? Had all these people really come to see the fall of the First Order? That didn’t matter now. Her eagle eyes spotted a narrow spot, just wide enough to land the craft. As she shut off the engine she couldn’t help but look out her windshield. Lovers were kissing and friends were rejoicing. But none of it reached her. She felt nothing but desperation. If she wasn’t out of time when she left Exegol, she certainly felt like she was now.

Rey forced the door open and nearly collapsed on to the ground. But she couldn’t stop yet. The excitement of the crowd made it easy enough for her to slip through unnoticed. She spotted a table near the entrance. Backing Ben into it, she ripped her sash off of them both as his head plummeted to the table. “Fuck!”, she screamed. She practically threw his body onto the table, failing to notice a lone bystander. She took a deep breath. He was so pale. He was cold. “Focus!”, she yelled, slamming her hands on the table.

She closed her eyes and laid her hands on his torso. She quieted then extended her mind; she reached out for any energy she could give to him. This planet, so lush and magnificent, so full of life, offered her nothing. She could feel the frustration welling up in her eyes. She tried to shove it down, but she couldn’t stop it.

Her mind flooded with images of Ben. The first time he took off his mask. His rage as he murdered his father. His threatening offer to teach her. His brand new scar. His affirmation that he was a monster. His patience as she told him how she searched for her parents. His determination as they faced Snoke and the Red Guard together. His heartbreak when she turned away. His shock when she saved his life. His assurance when he saved hers. His joy when he kissed her goodbye. Their whole story whipped through her brain at the speed of light as it tore her apart. Her loss consumed her. Not just Ben, but Leia, Luke, Han, and her parents. Any semblance of family she had ever known in this galaxy was gone. She was nobody, reaching out for no one. Again, she was alone.

Rey let out a terrifying scream. All of those years and all her pain escaped her in one excruciating wail, only to be met with silence.


	3. The Voice of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps not all is lost

Silence. It had never affected her before. But this was torture. Her head sank onto Ben’s cold chest. She gathered his hands in hers and endured it; that deafening silence. She had been so close. She should have told him sooner. She should have told him properly. They had come so far, it just wasn’t fair! Though she knew it was long gone, her scream echoed in her head. Ben would have been proud of her letting go like that. She could picture an imperceptible raised eyebrow, a slight twitch of his lips. She bared her teeth as she held back her tears.  
  
Her desperation had conjured an audience. Rey could feel their curiosity and confusion encroaching on her mind. She couldn’t deal with anyone else right now. She wasn’t ready for questions or judgment. She just wanted to be alone with her pain and her love and her Ben. She silently sobbed into Ben’s torn shirt desperately wishing she could be alone with him, wishing he could ask her to take his hand, wishing she could hear him say her name.  
  
Wait, she could hear him say her name. Her eyes flung open as she drank in every detail of his face. Was she going insane? He looked exactly the same. She slammed her eyes shut and reached out with everything she had. She called for him, “Ben! Ben, can you hear me! Ben!!”. She heard it again. “Rey.” It echoed from somewhere far away. She had to find him.


End file.
